Good Housekeeping the “Second Shift”
Good Housekeeping the “Second Shift”
Abstract:
Within the last half century, the number of women participating in the workforce has increased exponentially. Women are gaining more and more equality in the social, economic and political affairs, but gender inequity within the home regarding the division of household labor remains. Women are still primarily responsible for housework and childcare. Arlie Russell Hochschild’s concept of the “second shift” describes the situation of many women today. The “second shift” refers to all the chores and tasks that women are expected to complete concerning maintenance of the home and childcare after they have completed their shifts at work. Much attention has been focused on the gender division of household labor by sociologists and feminists academics, but the emotional and psychological effects of the “second shift” on working mothers have been covered to a lesser extent. Drawing on my personal experiences, I predicted that women who are not able to devote the time, effort and monetary resources needed to fulfill the responsibilities of home maintenance and childcare that they are expected as women, wives, and mothers to satisfy suffer from stress and feelings of failure for not living up to the standards of womanhood and motherhood that American society demands. To test this prediction, I conducted an exploratory survey of 34 working and non-working mothers to determine the time they spend on housework and at work, their attitudes towards housework, and their top sources of stress. The results of this survey have provided valuable insights into role strain, or role stress, that working wives and mothers experience from their conflicting roles as workers, wives and mothers, and the negative attitudes towards housework, the stress, distress and decline in emotional and physical well-being that arise out of this role stress.
“I don’t know of a working mother who can balance a career, children and a marriage.
Abstract:
Within the last half century, the number of women participating in the workforce has increased exponentially. Women are gaining more and more equality in the social, economic and political affairs, but gender inequity within the home regarding the division of household labor remains. Women are still primarily responsible for housework and childcare. Arlie Russell Hochschild’s concept of the “second shift” describes the situation of many women today. The “second shift” refers to all the chores and tasks that women are expected to complete concerning maintenance of the home and childcare after they have completed their shifts at work. Much attention has been focused on the gender division of household labor by sociologists and feminists academics, but the emotional and psychological effects of the “second shift” on working mothers have been covered to a lesser extent. Drawing on my personal experiences, I predicted that women who are not able to devote the time, effort and monetary resources needed to fulfill the responsibilities of home maintenance and childcare that they are expected as women, wives, and mothers to satisfy suffer from stress and feelings of failure for not living up to the standards of womanhood and motherhood that American society demands. To test this prediction, I conducted an exploratory survey of 34 working and non-working mothers to determine the time they spend on housework and at work, their attitudes towards housework, and their top sources of stress. The results of this survey have provided valuable insights into role strain, or role stress, that working wives and mothers experience from their conflicting roles as workers, wives and mothers, and the negative attitudes towards housework, the stress, distress and decline in emotional and physical well-being that arise out of this role stress.
“I don’t know of a working mother who can balance a career, children and a marriage.